Salaries in Germany

When you look for a job in Germany, you must know what salary you should get. This helps you negotiate a better salary.

Salaries by profession

These tools help you find how much you should earn.

Office of Statistics salary calculator (in German) – Find salaries by job title.
Glassdoor and Kununu – Find salaries by job title. You need an account.
Gehalt.de (in German) – find salaries by job title
Levels.fyi – IT salaries
Startup salary survey – Yearly survey by BerlinStartupJobs
Developer salaries in Germany (2021) – Honeypot.io
Salaries in Berlin – longer article by Settle in Berlin

Rates for freelancers

Income survey for solo freelancers (in German) – over 7,000 respondents
Software developer rates in Berlin

Taxes in Germany

When you negotiate your salary, you negotiate your gross income. The amount you keep after taxes is your net income.

In Germany, you pay around 35% of your salary in taxes and social contributions.¹ Your employer takes them directly from your paycheck.

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€

Occupation

Where do you work?

Age

years old

Religion

You must pay church tax.

Health insurance

We will use an average option.

Health insurance cost

€ per month Enter the total cost, even if your employer pays half of it.

Health insurer surcharge

Marriage

Married Not married

Children

Tax class

Tax class 1
If you are not married

Tax class 2
If you raise children alone

Tax class 3
If you earn more than your spouse

Tax class 4
If you earn around the same as your spouse

Tax class 5
If you earn less than your spouse

Tax class 6
If you calculate taxes for a second job

Your private health insurance costs per month. Your employer pays half of it.

Public health insurance pays for healthcare when you need it. Your income is very low, so you pay the minimum price. You earn more than , so you pay the maximum price.

You pay a bit more for nursing care insurance, because you are over {{ pflegeversicherung.defaultTarifMaxAge }} years old and you don't have children.

Base cost

Nursing care insurance

Insurer surcharge

Total

You are covered by your spouse's health insurance.

You are covered by your parents' health insurance.

You are covered by your health insurance in another EU country.

Public pension insurance pays for your pension when you retire. You earn more than , so you pay the maximum contribution. It costs of your income.

Your employer pays

You pay

Unemployment insurance pays for unemployment benefits if you lose your job. You earn more than , so you pay the maximum contribution. It costs {{ formatPercent(taxes.arbeitslosenversicherungRate * 2 * 100) }} of your income.

Your employer pays

You pay

This is the income tax you pay directly from your paycheque. It's missing some {{ childrenCount > 0 ? 'big ' : '' }}tax deductions. When you file a tax declaration, you can get {{ childrenCount > 0 ? 'a lot of ' : 'some ' }}money back{{ childrenCount > 0 ? ', especially when you have children' : '' }}.

Taxable income

Income tax rate

If you pay more than /year in income tax, you must pay a solidarity surcharge. It's a percentage of your income tax.

Solidarity surcharge is {{ formatPercent(taxes.solidarity.milderungszoneRate * 100) }} of all income tax above .

The solidarity surcharge is {{ formatPercent(taxes.solidarity.maxRate * 100) }} of your income tax.

Your church collects a church tax. In {{ germanStates[germanState].englishName }}, the church tax is {{ formatPercent(result.churchTaxRate * 100) }} of your income tax.

Your income is too low to pay income tax, so you don't pay church tax.

This is what you pay for all taxes and social contributions. They take this from your paycheck.

This is your net income. It's how much money you keep after taxes and other deductions. It's your money. You can spend it.

You pay these taxes and contributions:

Minimum wage and median income

Median income

The median income in Germany is 41,125€ per year. The median income in Berlin is 41,800€ per year.² Berlin salaries are lower than in other German cities,³ but the cost of living is also lower.

In Germany, people sometimes mention their monthly income instead of their yearly income.

Median income by profession (German) – Federal Employment Office

Median income by location (German) – Federal Employment Office

Minimum wage

The minimum wage (Mindestlohn) in Germany is 12€ per hour.⁴ After October 1, it will be 12€ per hour. Some professions have a higher minimum wage (Branchenmindestlohn).

Around 4% of jobs pay the minimum wage.⁵

Cost of living

Your salary should match the local cost of living. Salaries in Munich are higher than in Berlin, but living in Munich is more expensive. Salaries in Berlin are lower than in New York, but life in Berlin is cheaper than in New York.

Before you negotiate your salary, look at the cost of living in your area.

Cost of living in Berlin ➞

Bonuses

Yearly bonus

Some employers pay a yearly bonus (13. Monatsgehalt). It's usually in your work contract.⁶ You pay income tax on this bonus.

Relocation bonus

Some companies offer a relocation bonus. This helps you pay for your relocation costs. You can also negotiate this amount. Sometimes, it's a fixed amount, and sometimes they refund your real costs. Sometimes, you get your relocation bonus with your first paycheck, 30 to 45 days after you start working. You pay income tax on your relocation bonus.

When you get a job offer, you can negotiate a bigger relocation bonus.

If you don't get a relocation bonus, your relocation are still tax-deductible. – More information

When do I get paid?

In Germany, most people are paid once per month, usually on the 1st or 15th day of the month. You get your first paycheck after 30 or 45 days after you start working. If you are just moving to Germany, you need enough savings to survive the first 6 weeks.

Almost everyone is paid by bank transfer. If you start working in Germany, you need a bank account that supports SEPA transfers. Your bank can be in another European country.

Sources and footnotes